Surgical retractors are used to provide access to a surgical site and to provide a clear view of the operating field. A retractor has one or more surfaces that contact tissues or organs in order to hold open an incision or to enlarge an anatomical space. The retracted elements may include any of various tissues or organs such as skin, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, or other tissues or organs. In some types of retractors, one or more blades (elongated laminae) serve to retract tissue, with a frame or arm or handles holding the blades at the chosen positions. The positions typically are variable during the positioning process. The blades may have a hook shape, like the letter J. Another type of retractor is a tubular retractor, which is a tube that is open at both ends. In one common embodiment, tubular retractors come in nesting sets.
Retractors are used for a wide variety of purposes in surgery. However, in some uses, conventional retractors are not entirely satisfactory. Current surgical practice emphasizes access to surgical sites via paths that are not necessarily the most direct, in order to minimize collateral damage in the process of the surgery, or to preferentially incise tissue that heals rapidly. The resulting preferred access paths can be longer or more tortuous than classical access paths, even while producing shorter recovery periods or minimizing damage to tissues.
In turn, such more complex access paths can be difficult to establish or maintain with a classical retractor. Improved retractor systems, carefully designed and fabricated to allow them to work in concert, are needed to facilitate the performance of these improved methods of surgery.